The Book of Pirates and Highwaymen (17 page)

Desolate Island

Alexander Selkirk, who was four years and four months by himself, on the island of Jaun Fernandez, said he was a native of Largo, in the county of Fife, in Scotland, and was bred a sailor from his youth; and, at the time he was left on the island, was master of a trading vessel called The Cinque Port, Captain Stradling commander.– The reason of his being left on the island, was a difference between him and Captain Stradling, and the ship being leaky, made him at first willing to stay there rather than go with him, but afterwards he changed his mind, and would gladly have gone on board again, but the Captain would not receive him. He had with him his clothes and bedding; also a firelock, a pound of powder, some bullets and some tobacco; a hatchet, a kettle, a knife; a bible, some books on practical divinity, and his mathematical instruments and books.

For the first eight months he was extremely melancholy, and could hardly support the terror of being alone in a desolate place.

He built himself two huts of pimento trees, covered with long grass, and lined with the skins of goats which he killed with his gun as long as his powder lasted. He got fire by rubbing two sticks of pimento wood together on his knee. In the smallest hut, which was some distance from the other, he dressed his victuals, and in the other he slept, and employed himself in reading, singing psalms, and praying; so that he said he was a better Christian whilst in this solitude, than he was before. When he was first left in this place he ate nothing until mere hunger obliged him, partly from the want of bread and salt, and partly from excess of grief; nor did he go to bed till the want of sleep would not permit him to stay longer awake.

The pimento wood, which burnt very clear, served him both for fire and candle, and refreshed him with its fragrant smell. He could have procured fish enough, but he could not eat them for want of salt, except a sort of cray fish, which was extremely good, and as large as our lobsters, – these he sometimes broiled, and at other times boiled; as he also did the goat’s flesh, and made very good broth of it; for the taste of it is much more pleasant than that of the goats of England or Wales.– He kept an account of five hundred of these animals, which he had killed, and as many more which he caught and having marked them on the ear let them go again. When his powder was gone, he took them by out running them; for his way of living, and his continual exercise, walking and running, had so cleared his body of gross humours that he ran, with wonderful swiftness, through the woods, and up the rocks and hills. He distanced and tired both the swiftest runners belonging to the ship, and a bull-dog they had, in catching the goats, and bringing them on his back.

He once pursued a goat with so much eagerness that he caught hold of it on the brink of a precipice, of which he was not aware, as the bushes concealed it from his sight; so that he fell with the goat down the precipice, a prodigious height. He was so much hurt by the fall that he lay insensible, as he imagined, about twenty-four hours; and when he came to himself, he found the goat dead under him. He was hardly able to crawl to his hut, about a mile distant; nor was he able to go abroad again for two days.

He used to divert himself with cutting his name on the trees, together with the time of his being left and continuance there. He was at first much pestered with rats, which had bred, in great numbers, from some which had got on shore from ships which had put in there for food or water. The rats gnawed his feet and clothes while he slept, so that he was obliged to cherish some cats, which had also bred from some that had got on shore from ships that had put in there; these he fed on goats flesh, by which many of them became so tame, that they would lie about him in hundreds, and soon delivered him from the rats. He likewise tamed some kids, and to divert himself, he would frequently sing and dance with them and his cats; so that by the favour of Providence, and the vigour of his youth, he being now only thirty years of age, he was at length able to conquer all the inconveniences of his solitude, and became extremely easy.

When his clothes had worn out, he made himself a coat and a cap of goat’s skin, which he sewed with little thongs of the same, cut with his knife. He had no other needle but a nail; and when his knife was worn out, he made others as well as he could of some iron hoops that were left ashore. Having some linen by him, he cut out some shirts, which he sewed with the worsted of some old stockings; he had his last shirt on when he was found. At his first going aboard, he seemed much rejoiced; but had so far forgot his native language for want of use, that he could not speak plainly, only dropping a few words now and then, without much connection; but in two or three days he began to talk, and then told them that his silence was involuntary, for being so long without any person to converse with, he had forgot the use of his tongue. A dram was offered him, but he refused to taste it, having drunk nothing but water for so long a time; and it was some time before he could relish the victuals on board.

A Hardened Convict

Two men were once convicted of highway robbery before Judge Caulfield. When the jury brought in their verdict of guilty, the elder of the two felons turned round to the younger, and, with a countenance expressive of the most diabolical rage, malice, and revenge, addressed his companion in the following manner:- ‘Perdition seize you, you hen-hearted villain; if it had not been for you, I would have sent the rascal to hell who bore witness against us. I would have murdered the villain, and then he could have told no tales. But you, you cowardly scoundrel! persuaded me to let him go. You dog, if I am hanged, you will be hanged with me, and that is the only comfort and satisfaction I have. But, good people, if any of my profession be among you, take warning by my example. If you rob a man, kill him on the spot; you will then be safe, for dead men tell no tales. I have robbed many persons, and I may escape from prison and rob many more; and, by Heaven! the man I rob, I will surely murder.’

‘May God visit the blood of the man you murder upon my head,’ said Judge Caulfield. ‘Go, Mr Sheriff, procure a carpenter, have a gallows erected, and a coffin made, on the very spot where the monster stands; for from the bench I will not remove, until I see him executed. As for the young man, whose heart, though corrupted by the influence of this infernal wretch, still retained the principles of humanity, he shall not perish with him. I must, indeed, pass upon him the sentence the law requires; but I will respite him, and use my influence with the crown to pardon.– This hoary villain shall not have the satisfaction which his malignant heart had anticipated.’ The Sheriff obeyed the order – a gallows was erected in the court-house, and in the presence of the judge, the jury, and the people, the monster ascended the scaffold, cursing and blaspheming to the moment when he was launched into eternity.

Horrible Cruelty of Graeme, The Outlaw of Galloway

From the history of Galloway we extract the following account of the barbarous revenge of a ruffian, named Graeme, who was a celebrated freebooter of that country, and of whom many acts of bloody cruelty, too gross to be mentioned, are on record.

In an excursion this outlaw once made to plunder the lands of Gordon of Muirfad, he met with a notable defeat; for the old laird, aware of his intentions, had collected a body of his friends and dependants together; and these being placed in ambush, Graeme was taken completely by surprise, a number of his gang killed, and himself seriously wounded. Stung with rage and shame at being thus foiled, where he did not expect even resistance, he vowed a deadly vengeance: nor was it long protracted; for, watching his opportunity, he appeared so suddenly before the castle, with a strong force, that those within were taken quite unprepared. What they could do they did: they secured the gates, or rather doors, for it never could have been a place capable of making much resistance. Graeme demanded admission, uttering the most dreadful threats in case of a refusal. Gordon, sensible of his own weakness, was desirous of entering into some compromise with the robbers, and, for that purpose, solicited a parley at the door, against which Graeme had, by this time, piled up faggots and brush-wood for the purpose of setting it on fire. A sum of money in the meantime, and a future annuity, by way of black-meal, for protection, or rather forbearance, were the terms agreed on.

The arrangements having been finally made, Graeme observed that they might as well part friends: and advancing to the grated window, in the centre of the door through which they had carried out their negotiations, and having received the stipulated sum, he held out his hand at parting. As this was a piece of courtesy which could not be declined with safety, the proffered symbol of amity was accepted. No sooner, however, were their hands joined, than Graeme, throwing a noose over the other’s wrist, pulled with all his might, till an iron staple was driven into the wall, to which he fastened the end of the chain, and instantly setting fire to the pile, burnt him alive behind his door;– the castle and all it contained being destroyed.

Terrific Love

Avilda, daughter of the King of Gothland, contrary to the manner and disposition of her sex, exercised the profession of piracy, and was scouring the seas with a powerful fleet, while a sovereign was offering sacrifices to her beauty at the shrine of love. King Sigar perceiving that this masculine lady was not to be gained by the usual arts of lovers, took the extraordinary resolution of addressing himself in a mode more agreeable to her humour. He fitted out a fleet, went in quest of her, engaged her in a furious battle, which continued two days without intermission, and thus gained possession of a heart to be conquered only by valour.